Matcha
抹茶
Green
Matcha is the only tea you drink whole.
The shaded leaves are steamed, dried flat into tencha, and then ground between slow stone wheels until they become powder. It is whisked rather than steeped, so nothing is left behind in a strainer. The entire leaf ends up inside you.
The method came from Song dynasty China and was carried to Japan by Zen monks. China then abandoned it completely and Japan kept it alive for eight hundred years, which is why a Chinese invention is now the most Japanese thing in tea. It is thick and green, deep and savoury over a creamy sweetness.
- umami
- grassy
- creamy
- Origin
- Japan (Uji, Nishio)
- Water
- 80°C / 176°F
- Ratio
- 2 g / 100 ml
- Caffeine
- High
- Rinse
- Not needed
The tea of the Japanese tea ceremony; global benchmark
How much leaf
Gong fu brewing is leaf-heavy and short. Set your gaiwan or pot size and this is what to weigh out.
Vessel volume
100 ml
Recommended dose
Use ~2.0g of tea
The session
1 infusion, about 30s of total contact time.
- Steep 130sThick green umami, sweet and whole.
Also sold as
Ground Tea, Maccha
Steaper times this session for you
A countdown per infusion, a gong when each one is up, and the whole library in your pocket. Coming to iPhone.
Get notified at launchThese numbers are a median of independent gong fu sources, not a law. Leaf age, vessel and water all move them. Spotted something wrong? Tell us.